Marcus’ hand moved back just in time to catch Lucian’s seed as he shot. Each spurt made Lucian tremble, and Marcus bore his weight. In the aftermath of his orgasm, Lucian’s joints wentslack.
“Good boy,” Marcus praised. He flung the cum from his hand onto the pavement beside them, then returned to Lucian’s cock to milk it of what little was left. Marcus kissed him while he did, each kiss delicate but meaningful. Lucian kissed him back in the same way. “Such a good boy. Did youlikethat?”
“Yes.”
“Then make sure you remember what you’ve learned tonight,” Marcus told him. He stroked Lucian once more, then let his hand part from the thin skin of Lucian’s shaft. “Whatever you’ve been taught, I want you to forget it. You’re mine now, and I’m going to treat you the way you’ve always deserved to betreated.”
“Okay.” The word was softly spoken, but it was so steeped in disbelief and gratitude that it found its way beneath Marcus’ skin and burrowed deep, refusing to leave him. A single word was all it took to know how hurt Lucian had been. Marcus would find the Dom who’d warped him, and he would destroy him. This wasn’t how it was supposedtobe.
“I’ll see you next week, fledgling,” Marcus told him. He parted Lucian’s hands from his hair and took a step back, leaving Lucian to recover against thealleywall.
Nothing more was said. Theypartedways.
* * *
Well after Marcushad arrived back at his condo, thoughts of Lucian occupied his mind. Unable to pull himself together, Marcus sat with one leg tucked over his knee, a glass of bourbon rested in his palm, and watched the waking Aurora skyline from the floor-to-ceiling windows in hislivingroom.
The release. The sinfulpleasure.
Thepain.
Marcus thinned his lips and rested against the couch. His eyes took in the skyline, but the colors of a new dawn blurred as he lost himself inhishead.
He’d seen evil—more evil than he cared to admit—while on the job, but the suffering behind Lucian’s eyes spoke of an evil Marcus wasn’t prepared for. There was a degree of separation between himself and the alleged crimes his clients had committed, but with Lucian? With Lucian, there was no divide. Marcus couldn’t hope to distance himself from Lucian’s suffering if hetried.
The omega had wormed his way into Marcus’ heart when Marcus wasn’t looking. It wasn’t that Marcus was in love—he refused to believe a connection as staggering as that could be formed from a few brief encounters—but he was attached, and that wasenough.
It made him want to find out the truth and set Lucian’s wrongsright.
As the sun rose and bathed Aurora in vibrant reds and oranges, Marcus drained his bourbon, set his glass on the kitchen counter, and made his way to bed. He’d been looking for a plaything, but he’d found something else—something more satisfying, yet far moredistressing.
He’d found someone he genuinelycaredfor.
Crawford hadn’t lied—doing it right was more important than doing itquickly.
Marcus only wished he could convince his heart ofthesame.
15
Lucian
Seven long daysstretched from one Friday to another, and they dragged like nothing Lucian had been through before. The encounter with Marcus in the alley had changed him, like something buried deep inside of him that had been holding up against tremendous pressure for years and years had finallysnapped.
It was as terrible as it wasfantastic.
The well-worn roads Lucian knew—the roads he’d been taught to take—weren’t the ones that Marcus wanted him to follow. Under pressure, Lucian had slipped into the same frame of mind that had let him survive the days at The White Lotus when he hadn’t felt like performing. After so many nights spent with strangers, it was easy to let his body go on autopilot. He’d been taught how to pleasure a man, even at the expense of his ownenjoyment.
Marcus wasn’t interestedinthat.
What Marcus wanted was for Lucian to be selfish, and under his direction, Lucian had let everything go. No therapy had ever been so rewarding or so quick to make an impact. Lucian once believed that freedom meant the ability to choose his own path and live life the way he wanted to, but the truth ran so much deeper than that. Freedomdidmean those things, but it also meant having the ability to let go of the past, especially when that past shackled him so tightly that it directed how heacted.
Freedom waslettinggo.
In the bliss of that revelation, seven days was aneternity.
He couldn’t wait to see Marcusagain.
* * *
